


Rings

by poploppege



Category: Milo Murphy's Law
Genre: Anxiety, Dissociation, Happy Ending, M/M, breakdowns, cavendish has anxiety, dakota has depression, getting therapy from your future self, i promise this fic isnt that dark or sad they just have to work through some issues, i rewrote the ending for this like 4 times, jeremy is there for a hot second, this is my first time writing a multi chapter fic so we'll see how it does, this was supposed to be a lot shorter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:08:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26135515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poploppege/pseuds/poploppege
Summary: Cavendish and Dakota go Christmas shopping at the Danville mall, and run into their future selves. But why are they hiding their hands?Or, Dakota and Cavendish find out they're married in the future, prompting 2 mental breakdowns.
Relationships: Balthazar Cavendish/Vinnie Dakota
Comments: 37
Kudos: 84





	1. Dakota POV

“All I’m saying is you can never have too many slap bracelets.”

“We’re _not_ getting the Murphys an industrial sized crate of slap bracelets, and that is final!”

Balthazar Cavendish and Vinnie Dakota roamed through the Danville mall, looking for a Christmas gift suitable for the Murphy family. That task was harder than it sounded given that said gift had to fulfill a number of stipulations including but not limited to: being non-flammable, non-explosive, non-corrosive, completely unsusceptible to spontaneous combustion, waterproof, fireproof, duck-attack-proof, and certainly being nowhere close in description to the word “fragile”. Many ideas had already been birthed, raised, and killed on the journey to the unknown holy grail that was a passable gift which would survive the indiscriminate wrath of Murphy’s law.

Dakota sighed, feeling a hint of dejection at the death of yet another potential gift. He wasn’t _too_ attached to the slap bracelet idea, but Dakota thought it was one of the better solutions they had come up with so far. Fast tracking his way through the 5 stages of grief, he started to idly scan around the mall for inspiration as they walked. 

“What if we got them a gift card so _they_ had to deal with this instead of us?” Dakota said, the comment being more of an impulsive remark than an actual suggestion.

“It’s a rather impersonal gift to give a family we know so well, don’t you think?” Cavendish casually snarked back. “Gift cards are for acquaintances from work, or third cousins, or a store manager that you have wronged that you have to keep from calling the police,” he took a moment to grimace at the memory before continuing, “ _not_ a family which you’ve saved the world with twice over and gotten into countless other shenanigans with.”

“I don’t think there’s a rulebook for that kind of relationship.” Dakota’s eyes passed over a pet store (no), a toy shop (probably not), a jewelry shop (no way), another Dakota (huh), an egg salad store (what?), a paint shop (nope), a - wait what? He turned his head back to where he saw himself. Sure enough, there was another sunglasses-wearing Dakota right in front of the jewelry store. A shot of ice went through Dakota’s veins. Had Cavendish died again? Was it _his_ turn to go to the island? Out from a corner beside where his other self was standing emerged a figure he could recognize anywhere. Cavendish. So Cavendish _hadn’t_ died, Dakota was just looking at his future self. He relaxed, then noticing he had stopped walking at some point and that present Cavendish looked concerned.

“Are you quite all right? You stopped walking and had a strange look on your face.”

Dakota pointed at their future selves and nudged Cavendish, saying in a hushed tone “Cav look! It’s us from the future!”

“Why are you whispering? We’re not trying to- Oh it really _is_ us. Fancy that.”

“Come on, let’s go say hi to them! It’ll be fun!” Dakota said, taking Cavendish’s arm and pulling him forwards, already in a better mood. 

“We’re not _supposed_ to cross our own timelines…” Cavendish said halfheartedly, letting himself be pulled along. 

“HEY US!!” Dakota shouted, waving his free arm at their future selves. Their future selves startled, looking at him and Cavendish and then at each other and having a panicked conversation that Dakota couldn’t hear. What was _that_ about? He would probably find out.

Right before they stopped in front of themselves, their future selves very conspicuously _hid_ their hands behind their back. Well that's strange… Dakota thought, already making plans to get them to reveal their hands in the back of his mind. “Hey Dakota! Hey Cavendish!” 

Future Dakota and Future Cavendish - oh that was going to get old quickly; Dakota mentally changed their names to Fakota and Fucavendish - nervously smiled.

“Heyyyyy past me, what’s going on?” Fakota said, quite clearly looking anxious. A glance at Cavendish told him that Cavendish was none the wiser. Dakota grew a little on edge again. Why was his future self nervous? Was there something they were hiding from the Cavendishes? 

“Nothing much. Is the garden still green?” it was a code he had made for communicating with himself (although usually it was over phone or some other non-physical means) to ask if it was a bad time to talk, mostly used for Cavendish related issues.

Fakota glanced at Fucavendish, who looked confused, as would be expected. “The garden is green,” Fakota said, slightly tense.

“What do you mean by that?” Fucavendish asked, seemingly genuinely curious. “We don’t have a garden.”

Dakota made a quick mental note of that. _We_. it was nice to know they still lived together in the future. Jumping in to save himself, he clarified, “The metaphorical garden, I meant. Y’know, how’s life and all that”

Cavendish had been mostly silent, apparently along for whatever ride Dakota was taking them on, content to watch from afar. 

Now that Dakota felt safe it wasn’t a Cavendish related issue, he had no qualms about trying any trick in the book to get their future selves to reveal their not so meticulously hidden hands and find out why they were hiding it in the first place.

_Here we go_. “Up top Cavendish!” Dakota said, raising both of his hands towards Fucavendish in a way that strongly suggested a high five was in order. Fucavendish actually started to draw his hands before apparently realizing why he had them behind his back in the first place.

“Oh, uhm…” Fucavendish eloquently began, searching for an excuse. “My hands you see… they are… they’re...”

“Covered in artichoke!” Fakota interjected. Dakota was allergic to artichoke, so the excuse at least worked in Fucavendish’s case. They clearly weren’t expecting to be meeting their past selves today. That meant that either this interaction was very unmemorable, or that him and Cavendish altered the timeline for the first time this time around. Probably not the first option.

Dakota did a small pout for show. “Aw, well that’s disappointing, now my highs will be unfived. Unless...” he raised his hands up towards Fakota. “Up top future me!”

Fukota panicked. “Uhh, well…” he looked around for a second before shouting, “Look over there! It’s a guy with three monkeys on his shoulders!”

“Why on Earth are you hiding your hands?!” Cavendish snapped, apparently not so oblivious as to not realize what was happening. Dakota looked towards where his future self was looking. Huh. There _was_ a guy with three monkeys on his shoulders. Typical for this town, he supposed.

“It’s not that we’re hiding our hands, it’s just-” Fucavendish attempted, only to be interrupted by his past self yanking his hands out in front of him.

A quick glance told Dakota that there was nothing wrong with Fucavendish’s hands. But there was something… shiny on it? A shiver ran down Dakota’s body. Was that… _a ring?_

Dakota followed suit with Cavendish’s actions, reaching behind his future self’s back and grabbing his left hand. _No… it couldn’t be…_ Time moved in slow motion as he brought the hand out in front, revealing a simple golden band with an intricate design engraved in it on his future self’s ring finger.

He dropped the hand as if it were made of fire. What? No. _What??_ How? He had never thought that… When did… How had… _Cavendish??_ He looked over at Cavendish.

Who was apparently still looking over the hands, trying to figure out what was wrong with them. Oblivious, wonderful Cavendish, who had not connected the dots. Who had apparently lost his pen to connect them with altogether, brow furrowed as he tried to do mental gymnastics without legs.

He looked over to Fucavendish and Fakota who looked increasingly worried. They both looked him in the eye.

“Uh oh. Hope we haven’t messed things up too bad. I don’t know how _this_ is gonna affect the timeline…” Fakota said, rubbing the back of his head with the hand that Cavendish wasn’t currently inspecting.

Timeline. So this was the first time around then. Of course it was, it’s not like Dakota would ever in a thousand lifetimes be able to forget that apparently in the future they were--

“What do you mean? What timeline? Why do you both have rings on your hands?” Cavendish interjected, apparently frustrated at not having figured out something that was now known to everyone but him.

Dakota remained silent, too shocked to say anything. Fucavendish and Fakota simply stood awkwardly, sharing a glance with uncomfortable expressions.

Everyone was silent for a very tension-filled 17 and a half seconds before Cavendish, exasperated, finally begged, “Will SOMEONE _PLEASE_ tell me what _exactly_ is going on?”

Dakota quietly responded, “Cav. Our future selves have matching rings.”

“I can _see_ that! Why is-”

“ _Cav._ ” Dakota said more insistently, “We’re married.”

And there it was.


	2. Cavendish POV

Cavendish stood stock still. Surely he hadn’t heard what he thought he just heard. Married? How preposterous...

“Surely that’s not the case. There must be some other reason right?” he strained, trying to think of some reason, any reason at all… “Future me, why are you and Dakota wearing matching rings?!” he demanded, desperation peaking through what was probably an overly forceful tone. In the corner of his eye he could tell Dakota was looking at him. His heart pounded as he scrambled to retain some semblance of control.

“I… Past me. Vinnie is right.” future Cavendish said gently. Cavendish watched helplessly as his last crumb of control slipped from him.

“And what would be so bad about it?” Dakota said, a good dose of hurt prominent in his tone. Good lord, now he had gone and hurt the  _ only _ important person in his  _ life _ -

He stared at Dakota. How to explain? How to explain Dakota could never be happy with someone like Cavendish? That he deserved so much better than anything Cavendish could give him?

“You! Just look at you! And me…” he gulped, before saying one of his greatest fears out loud. 

“How could someone like you  _ ever  _ love someone like me?”

Dakota started back in what could only be described as intense disbelief. His eyes open wide, eyebrows as high as they could physically go with his mouth slightly ajar. “How could-” he laughed once. “Cav, you- do you think I could sacrifice myself  _ hundreds upon hundreds of times _ if I didn’t-”

Dakota cut himself off and took a rather shaky deep breath before continuing, much less hysteria evident in his demeanor. “Cavendish.” he looked Cavendish in the eyes. “Balthazar.” Cavendish’s heart was beating hard, and he knew that if he looked at his hands they would be shaking.

“You are the light of my life, and there is no one and nothing more important in this world to me than you. I’ve given you my life countless times and I would do it all again in a heartbeat if it meant that you were safe.” Dakota paused. “I love you.”

Cavendish saw his eyes as he spoke and knew without doubt every last word was true.

He had never been more terrified in his life.

Before he really comprehended what was going on, the adrenaline in his body apparently hit its limit, and had firmly settled on ‘flight’. And so he ran through the mall, likely faster than he had ever run in his life, past startled shoppers and towards the doors.


	3. Vinnie POV

Vinnie watched completely dumbfounded as Palthazar ran through the mall at no less than 20 miles an hour. This was  _ not  _ what he had been expecting from today. Pavinnie stood there shocked (and a lot more emotionally invested) while Balthazar was baffled and looked to be a bit ashamed of his past self’s actions, even though he did not actually do them in his timeline.

Vinnie put an arm around Pavinnie’s shoulder to comfort him. Vinnie was stable in his relationship with Balthazar, but they had the benefit of time. Lots and lots of time. Time to fall slowly into a comfortable rhythm of a relationship, like slowly descending into a hot tub. Unfortunately, he and his husband had accidentally caused their past selves to fall right in without knowing what was even happening. He imagined the emotions were more or less the same. Surprise, alarm, confusion, panic, the whole package. He sighed. This was gonna be  _ some  _ mess to clean up.

“I’m going to go after him. See if I can’t fix things up a bit.” Balthazar said, determined. “Sounds good. There probably never was and never will be someone better at doing just that than you, now.” He had full confidence in Balthazar’s ability. How much he had grown as a person since they met… Vinnie had never been more proud of anyone. He almost went in for a parting kiss, before remembering Pavinne was right next to him. Probably better not to freak him out more than he already had. He went for a brief embrace instead.

Balthazar started in the direction Palthazar had ran. Vinnie turned to his past self.

“Okay, I know you just poured your heart out to the love of your life and he ran away terrified,” Pavinnie’s eye twitched, and expression unchanging, he turned around and started to walk.

Vinnie grabbed his arm. “Oh no you don’t, you are  _ not  _ sacrificing another one of you for this!” Pavinnie just stared at him blankly. Oh bother, he was in post-Cavendeath trance. He knew it all too well. After about death 40, he had decided to “pause” his connection to his sense of self until everything was better again to prevent himself from suffering the trauma of Cavendish dying over and over. He wasn’t sure how well it really worked, but it felt better than feeling overwhelming grief, guilt, and shock every single time, so he had kept doing it. Later, he found out that was called “dissociating” and got therapy, although it took a while to find a therapist that knew time travel existed,  _ and  _ who was willing to keep quiet about the time crimes.

He fumbled to get his phone from his pocket, and video called Balthazar, who probably couldn’t have been more than 200 feet away, though Vinnie hadn’t seen what direction he had turned.

“Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up…”

Balthazar’s face showed up on screen. “Vinnie? I think I know where past me is but-”

“I trust you can do it. It’s past me. He’s disassociating.” He showed the phone to Pavinnie.

“Hey, hey look. Cavendish is alive, you can come back.” Pavinnie’s eyes focused on the screen.

“Vin- er… Dakota, look. I’m here, I’ve got all four limbs and if you were standing next to me I could prove I had a pulse.” he put his fingers to his neck as if to demonstrate.

Pavinnie, expression still unchanging and staring at the screen, took a deep breath. He then closed his eyes and scrunched his face up, taking another deep breath, then another.

“Okay. Okay. I think I’m back.” he turned to Vinnie. “Thanks.” he turned to the phone “You too, Cav. Thanks.”

“Of course, my-” he cut himself off before adding an endearment, “... friend.” Vinnie ended in the call and put his phone back in his jacket pocket.

“He’ll find Palthazar soon enough. I suppose we should get some food in the meantime and try to chill until he does.”

“Palthazar?” Pavinnie asked curiously.

“Sure. I mean, calling you guys Past Vinnie and Past Balthazar would get old quick. So, Pavinnie and Palthazar” Pavinnie grinned a little. 

“See, I was calling you Fakota and Fucavendish” Vinnie laughed. It made him happy to know he and his past self had the same idea.

Vinnie led Pavinnie over to the food court. While Vinnie wasn’t planning on letting him eat a  _ crazy _ amount, some food in the stomach always made him feel better, which means it always makes Pavinnie feel better. They walked up to the Slushy Dawg stand.

“Hey Dakota! And… Dakota.” Jeremy Johnson was currently manning the Slushy Dawg. he paused only for a second before continuing, “May I take your order?” Apparently, he knew better than to ask. Good kid.

“I would like a burger and medium fries,” Vinnie gestured to Pavinnie, “And  _ he _ would like 4 corndogs and a strawberry milkshake.” it was his go to comfort food for bad days.

Jeremy grimaced in sympathy. “Rough day huh?” Pavinnie nodded. “I think I just got divorced without getting married first.” Once again, Jeremy did not ask.

“It’s really not as bad as you think, Pavinnie. We’re going to the blanket room and wrapping you up as we eat and I'll tell you all about it.” As expected, Pavinnie was intrigued and pleased at the existence of a blanket room.

“So… who takes whose last name?”

  
  


~~~

  
  
  


Vinnie arrived at his house. It was painted light green, with an upstairs as well as a basement.

“Sweet place. It’s nice to know that we’re not doomed to live in a dingy little apartment forever.”

“Yeah, this house exists mostly because Professor Time totally owed us from that time when-” he stopped himself. There was a reason you weren’t supposed to cross your own timeline. Mostly it was to stop yourself from giving information that might change the way your past self acted. That ship had sailed. But how was he meant to know what would stay the same and what would turn out different? “Well… you’ll find out. Maybe. I don’t know how all of this is going to affect things.” He wiggled the key and opened the door.

The house wasn’t extravagant by any means, certainly not up to 22nd century standards. But given what he and Balthazar had spent most of their life living in, it was comparatively wonderful. It served their needs and a bit more. Pavinnie was looking around, nodding in appreciation.

Vinnie opened the door to the blanket room. The house-inator had a strange idea of what rooms were necessities and what rooms were optional. He and Balthazar had to get a bathroom installed and remodel the front entrance from being a large supply closet to being an actual entryway. This particular room was covered in soft mattresses from the floor to the walls to the ceiling. Vinnie thought it was probably meant to be one of those rooms in mental health hospitals to prevent self-harm, but he and Balthazar had stuck a bunch of pillows and bean bags and blankets in and called it “the pillow room”.

“Tah daaaaaaaah!” 

Pavinnie looked around, impressed. He made a beeline for Vinnie’s favorite bean bag and collapsed in it. Vinnie grabbed his favorite blanket and tossed it over Pavinnie, which made a  _ fwump _ noise. He handed him the Slushy Dawg bag with the corndogs in it. “Eat up.”

Pavinnie gladly did, taking a corndog in each hand.

They sat in silence for a while, eating. “Does… Cavendish still die regularly?” Pavinnie finally asked quietly,“I mean… do you… keep sending yourself to the island?” 

The strange thing, Vinnie realized, about hanging around a version of yourself displaced in time was that you were nearly the same person, even if you’ve changed a lot. Throughout the small time they spent together, he found that he and Pavinnie were mimicking each other's body language and thought processes. He understood and knew things that he had not been told. It was kind of like deja vu, but not. Like every new moment was still new, but was at the same intimately familiar. It was weird, he could feel the question coming before it was asked, if you asked, he could probably pinpoint the moment right before it was going to be voiced aloud.

Any qualms he had about not revealing the future to his past self were set aside. This was something that, rules or not, he deserved to know. He faced Pavinnie.

“No.” he knew, in the same way that he knew that the question was going to be asked in the first place, that the single word stirred and shifted something inside him. That he knew he should feel happy, and yet felt more things than just happy. He felt relieved and exhausted and melancholy. And he was sitting there wondering why he didn’t feel pure elation. He knew this partly because he had gone through it himself, and partly through instinct.

“It’s okay to feel strange about it, Vin. you put so much work into saving him- you had to, it was such a big part of your life- that it became a part of your identity. And even if it’s for the best, that part of you will be taken away, and that hurts. Like stepping out of a warm but stuffy room into the cold but crisp morning air and taking a deep breath.” Not all of that was his own words—some were from his therapist—but it got the point across well.

Pavinnie stared at Vinnie, incredulous. “You know, it’s weird hanging out with my future self, I’m getting this weird sense of deja vu, except it’s not-”

Vinnie smiled. “Yeah, I know.”

Pavinnie smiled back, and took another bite of his corndog.

“About the island… I would still sacrifice myself for Balthazar in a heartbeat. Die for him, even. You of all people already know that. But… he dies less. Maybe even stopped completely. Balthazar used to be so reckless in all the wrong ways, trying to prove to the world that he was brave, bold, and most of all, worthy. But the thing is… I’m his world now. I’m what matters to him. And he knows that  _ I _ know that he is braver than the most daring stuntman, more bold than that weird guy we saw one time running through the snow nude on Christmas, and as worthy as one human can possibly be.” He looked away, reminiscing. “As he started to realize that, he stopped trying to prove himself so much. He started being more careful. Started living only as accident prone as an average person.”

Pavinnie listened intently to every word, saying nothing. Thinking. Feeling.

“And… it’s partly me as well.” 

Pavinnie looked up. “What do you mean?”

“Not every Dakota on the island is there because of a Cavendish death.”

“Yeah, I know. Sometimes other stuff with the timeline needs to be fixed. Sometimes  _ other  _ people die.”

“You know, I grew more nonchalant about it over the years. Like you are right now. Maybe I can stop it,” he mused before continuing with purpose, “When I was at my worst, I went back over Balthazar breaking his leg. We were living paycheck to paycheck, and had jobs in manual labor at the time. We wouldn’t be able to make rent without him working. So… I went back. Stopped him from breaking his leg.” He shook his head. “I would never do something like that today, even if we were in that tight of a situation.”

Pavinnie looked intrigued, “Why not?”

“Because I learned to care about myself, too.”

Pavinnie looked at Vinnie, contemplating the words. Like he didn’t quite get what he meant.

“My life is worth value too, which is something that took me too long to realize. Balthazar is my husband, and I would do anything to keep him alive and well. But… I was giving out my life like freebies every time. And I would do it all again to make sure he survived. But each and every one of those times was a sacrifice. Each and every one of those times I gave up my life to save his. And that’s a big deal. And so, I  _ wouldn’t _ go back and save a broken leg.  _ I _ am more important.”

Pavinnie looked at him like his brain hurt, sighed, collapsed fully onto the beanbag, and took another bite of his corndog. “This day has been a  _ lot _ .” he said between bites.

“I know… just… think about what I said though. It’s important. I know change doesn’t happen overnight or anything, but I don’t want you going through the same pitfalls that I had to.” He dragged his beanbag over to where Pavinnie was sitting and pet his hair. “You’re going to have a happy life, Vinnie. You’re going to get married to the man of your dreams and grow so much together.”

If Pavinnie shed a tear or two, Vinnie didn’t mention it.

They ate the rest of their meal in silence.


	4. Balthazar POV

Balthazar arrived at the front gates at the Danville Botanical Garden. He had been here innumerable times throughout the years. When everything seemed to be too much, and when nothing went right, the calm plants and beautiful butterflies here were still perfect. Even if he was a wreck inside, he took comfort in knowing that there was goodness and beauty in the world around him. And so, this garden was his sanctuary.

He walked up to the front counter and flashed his club membership card to the woman who was stationed there.

“Hey… didn’t I just let you in? And you’re wearing different clothes too.”

“Ah, that would be my twin brother. I’m looking for him actually, have you seen him?”

The employee pointed out the window. “I believe he was headed towards the koi pond.” 

“Many thanks.” he tipped his hat, and started towards the koi pond. He moved mostly through instinct. He could navigate the garden blindfolded if he had to.

He saw his past self on a stone bench hunched over with his hands to his face, his hat set to the side. His eyes were wide and he was breathing heavily. If his past experiences were anything to go on (which they definitely were), then he had also been crying. He gently put his hand on his past self’s shoulder.

Despite the contact being as gentle as he could make it, past Balthazar jolted at the touch. He looked up at Balthazar, and his tear stained face twisted.

“Oh, it’s you. Come to chide me for upsetting your husband?” he spat. Balthazar didn’t respond. He simply enveloped him in a hug.

Past Balthazar tensed, seeming almost confused, before slowly wrapping his arms around Balthazar. What was a stiff embrace shifted into a tight hug, which in turn shifted into something of a lifeline for past Balthazar. He cried into his shoulder. If Balthazar was guessing correctly, and he knew he was, it wasn’t out of sadness or even fear. It was simply due to being so overwhelmed.

After what he felt was an appropriate amount of silence, he spoke, “It’s okay Balthazar. This was quite the bombshell. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed. No one is judging or scrutinizing you right now. You’re safe.”

Past him took a long shaky breath, then pulled away. Balthazar removed his hat and set it to the side, then dug out a handkerchief from his coat pocket and gave it to past Balthazar.

“Thank you.” he dabbed his eyes, though the tear tracks and puffy eyes stubbornly remained. “Oh, why do I have to mess everything up? Dakota probably hates me now.”

“Come now, you know that’s not true.” Balthazar said gently.

Past Balthazar sneered, although he seemed more disgusted with himself than anything else. “Of course it’s not. He will somehow forgive me and I will still be here, a horrible human being that doesn’t deserve someone as good as Dakota in my world, let alone my life.” he turned to Balthazar, looking like he was about to cry again. “Why doesn’t he understand? That he is so much better than I ever could be? That he deserves better than what I can give him?”

Balthazar gave him room to rant. Of course the things that he was saying were not true, but he didn’t understand that yet. And a listening ear (especially one who understood exactly what he was feeling) was what he needed, whether he knew it or not.

“He is selfless, and sweet, and kind, and caring, and perfect-- and what am I? I am nothing. Nothing but a failure.” His voice choked on the word failure, and suddenly looking at the ground seemed a lot better than looking at Balthazar. Balthazar wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

“Oh, Balthazar. I wish I could simply tell you that’s not true, but it’s something you have to learn over time. But even if you don’t understand or believe me, I’m going to tell you anyway. You have worth. You are worthy of love. And most importantly, you have the power to grow and become better. Who you are today is not who you always will be.”

Past-Balthazar continued to stare into the koi pond, eyebrows furrowed. He said nothing. He may have sensed it was his turn to listen, or he may have simply expended his energy on his packed-to-the-brim-with-emotion filled words. Either way, Balthazar took it as a sign to continue.

“Maybe try to think of it this way. You love-- or at the very least care for, even if you can’t properly label what you’re feeling yet-- Dakota. There are lots and lots and lots of things that you are uncertain about. This is not one of them.” He said this as a fact, though he knew that if it were coming from anyone other than future-him, past-Cavendish would have been stubbornly contrary. Instead he kept staring at the moving fish, compliently processing the words. 

“Another thing you know is that Dakota loves you.” Past-Balthazar’s lips pursed at that, but he did not object. He likely still found it hard to believe, but at the same time could not discount it. “Now I ask you: is there anything you want to do differently now that you know these things?” He used absolutes as a tool to focus on the things he knew rather than get caught up and intimidated by uncertainty. It worked especially well in a situation like this, where emotions flew everywhere and it wasn’t clear what should be focused on, and what were red herrings or otherwise unimportant.

Past-Balthazar’s expression morphed from anxious and unsettled to thoughtful and just a bit nonplussed. “I… suppose not much. As far as the essentials are concerned anyhow.” His tone was completely different from his prior outburst. It carried the strained streak of someone that had recently been very emotional, who had calmed down and become clear headed, but drained. Quiet, just a touch hoarse, and minimal with words. “I still want to be with him. Whatever we’ve done, we’ve done it together, for decades now. I… can’t see my life without him.” The admission seemed to surprise him.

“So…” Balthazar continued to reason, “does this really change all that much?” 

Past-Balthazar turned and looked at him. “It… It feels like it should. It absolutely should, in fact. But…” he looked puzzled. “... You’re right. Somehow.” 

“Balthazar, I’m going to stick my neck out and say what this changes is your awareness of a possible romantic relationship between you and Vinnie. Nothing more, nothing less.” he finally said.

Past-Balthazar appraised his words, slowly becoming more invested in them. With Balthazar, many things were all or none. Eventually he swiftly arose from his seat, purpose in his eyes.

“By golly, you’re right!” he turned to look at Balthazar. “Come now future me, I have a partner to apologize to!” he took his hat and mounted it firmly on his head. Balthazar rose and put on his own hat, and past-Balthazar turned to him sheepishly. 

“Eh heh… where would that be, exactly?”


	5. Dakota POV II

Dakota sat, half dazed. A food coma was creeping up on him, he was having a lot of strange and confusing thoughts and feelings, and he was currently sitting in a particularly comfy bean bag with an excellent blanket, staring at nothing in particular. His future self was sitting next to him, just chilling as far as he could tell, looking at his phone. Not that he minded. He had heard enough emotionally uprooting things come from that man’s mouth today, though his presence itself was oddly soothing. He lazily turned his gaze from looking at the ground to looking at his future self.

He was… happy. Genuinely and truly. Dakota wouldn’t have considered himself  _ sad  _ per se, but… his future self just stood there so sure and secure in who he was and what he wanted in life. He had so much love and care about him. It gave him a weird sense of hope and optimism for the future that he hadn’t really felt before.

Fakota noticed the gaze. He smiled fondly at Dakota and started to pet his head idly again, turning back to his phone. Dakota sat there for a moment, idly basking in the strange experience of sitting with his future self in a very comfy chair with food in his stomach. It was almost possible to forget what was really going on.

Fakota stood up. “Be right back, Pavinnie.” Dakota hummed an acknowledgement in response. Fakota left.

If things felt strange before, they felt flat out surreal now. He was sitting alone in an unfamiliar room in an unfamiliar house in a (relatively) unfamiliar time, but he felt more comfortable and safe than he had in ages. He could almost pretend it was a dream. He heard footsteps coming towards the room. Fakota must be back from the bathroom or wherever.

He heard 2 extra sets of footsteps. 

The surreal dream-like feeling vanished and was replaced by a fine concoction of anxiety, alertness, and just a dash of adrenaline. The door opened. Fakota, Fucavendish, and Cavendish walked in.

Dakota stood right up, shedding the blanket that was covering him 2 seconds ago. Cavendish looked at him like he had just stumbled into an old friend in the supermarket that he had presumed dead.

“Cavendish,” Dakota started, trying to apologize, “I’m so sorry for just- just  _ saying  _ all of that all at once. I should have given you time, not throw more on your pile of things to process.”

Cavendish said nothing, moving across the room to where Dakota was standing, then enveloping him in a crushing hug.

Dakota’s arms instinctively wrapped around Cavendish, though he was still surprised.

“ _ Vinnie. _ ” Cavendish’s voice was wrought with emotion, and Dakota hung on to every word.

“Vinnie, you are my best friend. Nothing will  _ ever _ change that. Not hard times, not easy times, not a person whose goal it is specifically to split us apart, not our future selves showing up at the Danville mall with wedding rings, not even some  _ stupid  _ egg roll at a work Christmas party.” Dakota clutched tighter, starting to tear up with relief and emotion.

“I  _ care  _ for you. Out of all the things that I don’t know, that I don’t understand, that I am unsure of, this one thing I  _ know _ . I want you to be a part of my life. Always.”

Cavendish pulled away. “And… if something romantic  _ does  _ happen to arise… Well. We’ll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it hmm?” 

Dakota started crying in earnest then, relief and love and everything from the day finally overwhelming him and taking physical form as teardrops. 

“Oh. Oh, Dakota, did I say something wrong? I’m sorry.”

“No. No I just-” he wiped his eyes. “I know we just hugged but… Can I hug you?”

Cavendish’s face softened. “Of course.” Then Cavendish’s long arms were once again enveloping Dakota.

The day had been nothing short of exhausting, and an extended hug from his partner was exactly what he needed. He sighed, feeling like he was settling into a hot tub after a long day in the cold.


	6. Cavendish POV II

Cavendish and Dakota stood outside their future selves house with their future selves.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye,” future Dakota said. Future Cavendish nodded.

“I suppose it is.” Cavendish felt… Enlightened by the whole experience, if nothing else.

“Thanks for everything, Fakota.” Dakota said.

“Of course, Pavinnie.” Future Dakota said.

Both Cavendishes raised an eyebrow in perfect sync. Both Dakotas looked at each other with expressions that could only be called conspiratorial and giggled in perfect sync. The laughter tapered off, then Dakota finally spoke up.

“Hey wait a minute… If you’ve altered our timelines this significantly… shouldn’t a pair of us stop existing?” Dakota asked.

They all exchanged glances with each other.

Cavendish suddenly had the eerie feeling that something was watching him from somewhere he could not see. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he became tense. Before he could do anything, something cold gripped him, tearing him away. Away from- from something. Like he was being forcibly removed from the very plane of existence he was residing. Vaguely, he somewhere heard Dakota shout in alarm as well.

Then he felt- knew somewhere in his soul- that he was falling. He screamed.

And then suddenly he was standing right where he was before, Dakota next to him. Except where the house was, there was an empty lot, and their future selves were nowhere to be seen.

Cavendish breathed heavily in fear, heart pounding hard.  _ What… what  _ **_was_ ** _ that? _ He turned to Dakota.

Who was standing there casually, wiggling his arms as if they were covered in something that he was trying to shake off.

“Eugh.  _ That  _ never gets any easier.”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WHAT JUST HAPPENED?” Cavendish yelled, still in panic from the experience. 

Dakota looked up at him, almost seeming surprised that he had to explain. “We just got plucked from that timeline and thrown into this one, Cav. We don’t exist there anymore.”

“Wh-” Cavendish thought back to his textbooks on timelines. Yes, he vaguely remembered a section on what happened if you were removed from a timeline. It always came with a caveat of  _ ‘if this happens to you, you’ve done something terribly, terribly wrong, and you should turn yourself in to the Department of Time Justice. _ ’ “How do  _ you  _ know that?!”

Dakota turned away sheepishly. Realization dawned on Cavendish.

“You…” Cavendish’s voice turned softer. “How many times?”

“Ehhh, not many,” Dakota said evasively. “I don’t really wanna talk about it. Come on, let’s go home. I feel like taking a  _ really  _ long nap all a sudden.” 

The cheery, confident face Dakota usually wore was slipping, revealing a deep weariness that was from more than just being physically thrown out of one timeline into another. In those cracks Cavendish saw the man that gave his life for him over and over again, who thought of everyone else before himself, who expected himself to be stronger than he should ever have to be.

He didn’t press further. Instead, he wordlessly took Dakota’s arm and started to walk back to the car.

Yes, some rest really  _ did _ sound good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for sticking around lads, hope you liked it, leave a comment if you want to, dakavendish 4 life peace out ✌️


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